Foundations · Reading
Santosha
Contentment, the second niyama.
Awaiting subject reviewWritten from our source material and not yet checked by a teacher of this practice. Read it as reference, and learn the practice from someone who teaches it.
Philosophy
Santosha, the second niyama, is contentment. It is the ability to rest in what is present without reaching for something else to complete it.
It does not mean giving up effort; tapas, the next niyama, sits right beside it. Patanjali says that from contentment comes unsurpassed happiness.
Further reading
- Yoga Sutras 2.32
- Yoga Sutras 2.42
Ideas behind it
Sources and tradition
- YOG Union App Content Map, 2 November 2026, pp. 2–3
- Patanjali, Yoga Sutras, 2.32, 2.42